Slow Play Promise and Petition

[Erlend]

Sure. It`s okay when people do test swings etc. even if it`s just a practice round. But when people leave the bags in the most misplaced places, test swings 5-6 times, stops in front of the green of a par 3 to write down the score on the scorecard while people is right behind them etc. it really pisses me off.

[Robiola the Monster]

I'm not opposed to slow golf and enjoy taking my time.

Yer i don't mind playing a slowish round of golf it helps me to concerntrate.

But i dont like queing up at tee boxs with 2 groups in front of us still to tee off.

[gr8hntr]

sry for the newbie questions
but how long should it take a beginner like me to play a round ?
can a time be set to a standard score give or take a few shots?
like is 4 hrs what it takes a 100 stroke round ?
or is 4 hrs more like a 80 stroke round ?
and us 100+ guys ( dont really know what i'll shot being i havent played yet)
gonna take longer than the 4 hrs ?
and will the better players understand and have patients with us newbies
that are just learning the game that they have already learned?


thx

[Shindig]

sry for the newbie questions

I've been worried about slow play since I began. It used to take me 80 strokes to play 9 holes and I'd play in about 2:15. Now I take about 100 strokes to play 18 holes, and I play in just about four hours, not counting the time enqueued at the tee box. In short, there are a few ways you can do better: * limit your practice swings. Tiger takes 5 or so, but there's a lot more riding on the result of his shot than on yours. Take a practice swing, take a second if the first is truly awful, step up, and hit the ball. As awful as it sounds to say, this isn't going to affect your score very much, if at all. * Select your club quickly. Have a pre-determined rule for what to do when you're between clubs. For example, my rule is to always overclub if I'm uncertain (i.e., if I'm not sure between 5 and 4 iron, I take the 4), unless there's serious trouble in back of my target and very little in front. You probably know your distance to your target; if not, estimate it. Be alert for yardage markers as you move, and really, there's no sense stomping them out until you hit a given distance consistently. * Oh, and know your distances, or at least a good estimate. I see people hitting pitching wedge - or even other wedges! - into long par-4s and leaving it 50 yards short. In addition to being poor course management - 50 yards is an awful tough shot to make - they're plainly placing machismo ahead of etiquette too. If I'm 7-iron distance out -- that's 125 yards for me -- there's no way I can muscle my pitching wedge, which I average about 95 yards. It goes with this that you don't care what club your partners hit, unless they share your distances. A friend of mine hits his pitching wedge 150 yards -- not bragging, I've seen him do it repeatedly. That's a 4-Iron for me. How long would we be on the course if I tried hitting the same club he did each time? * Don't read your putt from 4 angles. Read the green as you approach it (you'd be surprised what you can see from 100 yards out - I was!), take a brief read from behind the ball, take a practice swing, and hit it. While reading, it's OK to mark, clean, and replace the ball, especially if it helps you make your putt more certain. * Don't play ball marker derby. After a putt, if there's a good chance you'll sink the next one, and can do so without stepping in another's line (or step in my line, go ahead. Everyone else did), go ahead and knock it in. Unless you're playing for money, no one can really object to this. * Ready golf. It's a par-5, you have 300 yards to go for your second shot and that guy at 320 is swinging his 3-Wood waiting for the green to clear? Go ahead and hit yours to layup distance. If he complains and talks about your etiquette, mention that there's no way he's hitting the green from that far out, and he's promoting slow play, a far worse etiquette violation than playing ready golf could be considered to be. * Par-3s: wave up the group behind you, unless you're a hole behind. This means get to the green, mark your balls, and wave 'em up. Then take cover. They hit their tee shots, and you guys go putt while they walk to their tee shots and prepare approach shots. It allows some par-3s to at least partially parallelize the processing of players. There's a good rule of wrist -- fast players don't always think they're slow, but I've never met a slow player who didn't think he was fast.

[Erlend]

But i dont like queing up at tee boxs with 2 groups in front of us still to tee off.

Are you serious? And I think there is much waiting here in Norway. That`s really frustrating. I guess playing golf here in Norway isn`t that bad after all. I`ve heard alot about and experienced it myself while playing in Spain/Portugal/Africa/USA/Asia that people often steal untagged balls etc. Nobody steals balls here in Norway, we only pick up lost balls that are beyond doubt lost. We never really wait that much either, although some players, both good and bad when it comes to skills, waste time.

[sanforce]

i'm jumpin aboard

signed...

[Dent]

Signed! Woo hoo

[The Bogey Man]

*signed*

Yes Yes Yes

[ERichardson]

I will do my part.

[samyosemite]

im in.take less practice swings and hit the ball already!!

[gaz d]

I add my name to the fast play petition and will encourage others to HURRY UP, and will try to play my rounds in four hours or less!

[dayll]

My problem (one among many) is I am concerned about those behind us. I'm the idiot to be sure because so many others could care less about others. Now I'm no golfing Mater Teresa or anything but if I notice our group is holding another up I'll urge the guys to shift gears. The only problem with being concerned with others having a good time is it is not always a reciprocal thing. It has been said that golf tests you more as a person than as an athlete - frankly I am more impressed by politeness than I am by a monster drive or any other shot for that matter. Rudeness is the general way of the world - how nice it would be if we could at least get beyond that when we play our impossible game. dayll

[mcecki]

nothing bothers me more than a guy who takes 5 practice swings leading up to a shank into the woods, who then re-tees a new ball and repeats.

[lhshurdl3r]

I'm in on this. For sure. A couple days ago a group cut in front of us because there was a little bit of space.. and proceeded to slow us up on EVERY following shot. At one point, all four of us had our shots in different areas of the hole and we were all standing at our balls for about 5-10 minutes waiting for these jokers to get off the green so we could hit our second shots. Point taken... unlike us, these guys would drive to one ball, hit it, go to the other and duff it and circle back and forth to another ball.. ridiculous.

[SideSwipe]

Amen. Also please give me the strength to remind others to repair their ball marks!

[Matt M]

Mark me down as signed up. I got stuck behind a fivesome today that as we were walking off the green says "hey if you catch us we'll let u play through if you like" WHAT DID WE JUST DO????

[J_Bone]

Sign me up!! My best days are when no one is holding me up.

[getinthehole]

I'm in, I played a round in about 2 hours 30 minutes yesterday and that's because I had no-one slow in front. Usually I would take 3 hours 30 minutes because of people in front.